Transcript of "Gay and lesbian culture"

4.
15 years of ambivalent identity <ul><li>“ To be a lesbian means engaging in a complex, often treacherous, system of cultural identities, representations and institutions, and a history of sexual regulation.” (Page 191) </li></ul>

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<ul><li>“ But being lesbian tests the meanings of sexual identity in ways that evoke intense, sometimes violent, social disapproval, while being straight as taken for granted as a neutral position…” (Page 191) </li></ul><ul><li>“ They can’t help it”. “If “they” could “they” should” (page 191) </li></ul>

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<ul><li>“ If a gay filmmaker makes a film about something that has nothing to do with being gay, is that a gay film? If a straight filmmaker makes a film with lesbians in it is that a lesbian film?” What constitutes a lesbian film? (page 193) </li></ul><ul><li>The Displaced View by Midi Onodera, New York Festival of Lesbian and Gay Film </li></ul>

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“ Cultural Identity and Cinematic Representation” by Stuart Hall <ul><li>“ cultural identity in terms of the idea of one, shared culture, a sort of “collective” </li></ul><ul><li>cultural identity “which is waiting to be found” </li></ul>

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“ Lesbian” – very white word <ul><li>Racial Hierarchies within lesbian institutions and social relations. </li></ul><ul><li>Discrimination of Black and Latin Americans within lesbian and gay men communities </li></ul>

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“ Coming out” – more than a personal declaration <ul><li>Primary objective in Gay rights movement in early 1970s </li></ul>

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Stonewall Rebellion: Are they still rebelling? <ul><li>Gay culture now receives some attention during June in shows and television specials that coincide with the anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion” (P. 198) </li></ul>

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Je, tu ill elle – I you she he Out of Ghetto <ul><li>“ This is not a business decision..but a moral and ethical one. I will not be ghettoized” </li></ul><ul><li>(Chantel Akerman, in Village Voice ) </li></ul>

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<ul><li>Allan Berube </li></ul>“ How Gay Stays White and What Kind of White It Stays”

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The Stereotype <ul><li>Racialized Phantoms surround categories such as “gay man” </li></ul><ul><li>Dominant image of the typical gay man </li></ul><ul><li>“ In the United States today, the dominant image of the typical gay man is a white mane who is financially better off than most everyone else.” p. 234 </li></ul>

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My White Desires <ul><li>Race and class at centre of Berube’s work </li></ul><ul><li>Activist groups turn out to be predominantly white </li></ul><ul><li>What happens when white men call attention to their whiteness? </li></ul><ul><li>Why would Berube want to challenge the racist structures of whiteness? </li></ul><ul><li>“ I wanted to know how gay gets white, how it stays that way, and how whiteness is used both to win and attack gay rights campaigns”. Pg. 236 </li></ul>

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Gay Whitening Practices <ul><li>“ Gay men of colour, working against the stereotype, have engaged in long, difficult struggles to gain some public recognition of their cultural heritages, political activism and everyday existence”. P. 236 </li></ul><ul><li>Putting “gay” and “men of colour” together </li></ul><ul><li>“ White gay life is not about race” p. 237 </li></ul><ul><li>Pale Protective Colouring: A cohesive bond </li></ul>

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Race Analogies <ul><li>Grey’s Anatomy </li></ul>If Isaiah Washington called T.R. Knight the “F” word, attacking his sexuality If T.R. had called Isaiah the “N” word, would it have been such a big deal? … is there a parallel between Race and Sexuality?

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Issues of Interpretration <ul><li>One group sees it one way while another group sees it another way. </li></ul><ul><li>Berube just wants to address how race relates to their cause. </li></ul><ul><li>Is there more to it than just that? </li></ul>

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<ul><li>“ Racial unintentionality”. </li></ul><ul><li>Being white is not bad or is it? </li></ul><ul><li>Can white people ever just be? </li></ul>

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Pale Male – and Antiracist <ul><li>Does it matter what others think? </li></ul><ul><li>To fit in or fight back? </li></ul><ul><li>Dealing with expectations and stereotypes. </li></ul><ul><li>There are differences being made but with that comes difficulties to face. </li></ul>

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Recognizing Differences <ul><li>“ Institutionalized rejection of difference is an absolute necessity…We have all been programmed to respond to human difference between us with fear and loathing.” p. 281 </li></ul><ul><li>Ignoring difference results in a “voluntary isolation, or false and treacherous connection” p. 282 </li></ul>

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The Dangers of Homogeneity <ul><li>“ Ignoring the differences of race between women and the implication of those differences presents the most serious threat to the mobolization of women’s joint power” p. 283 </li></ul><ul><li>“ Refusing to recognize difference make it impossible to see the different problems and pitfalls facing us as women” p. 284 </li></ul>

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The Dangers of Homogeneity <ul><li>What happens when unity is misnamed as homogeneity within Black communities? </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Refusal to recognize oppression of Black women by Black men/societies </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Ostracization of Black lesbians, labelled as “un-Black” </li></ul></ul>

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Relating Across Differences <ul><li>“ Now we must recognize differences among women who are our equals, neither inferior or superior, and devise ways to use each others’ differences to enrich our vision and our joint struggles.” p. 286 </li></ul>